Gill ruled out, Pant to captain at Guwahati

“Definitely, a one-off match is not the best scenario as a captain,” said Pant at the press conference on Friday. “But at the same time, I’m really proud that the BCCI has given me this opportunity. You know, whenever you’re leading your country, it’s the proudest moment. At the same time, I don’t want to think about it too much. I don’t want to take that undue pressure of captaincy. I just want to keep things very simple.”

Rishabh Pant doing Rishabh Pant things is one of the biggest reasons behind India’s Test resurgence in this decade. Gabba 2021 is always top of the highlights reel but even Leeds earlier this year (where he slammed hundreds in both innings), Birmingham and Cape Town in 2022, or Sydney in 2019 are powerful reminders of Pant’s ability to thrill and instill fear. He didn’t produce that form in the first Test but with captaincy thrust on him, you never know how Pant will react to Guwahati, where incidentally, he had also made his ODI debut in 2018.

“I want to be someone who gives that freedom and I want people and players to learn and make the right decision for the team eventually,” said Pant, when asked about his approach to captaincy. “That’s the real good and obviously whatever my knowledge is, that’s going to help them on the field regardless of me.